Archive for ‘Toronto-based’

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15/03/2020

Coronavirus: Second death confirmed in India

Coronavirus advisory hangs at the entrance of the Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital in Kolkata, India, 04 March 2020Image copyright EPA
Image caption India has stopped exports of masks to make sure there are ample domestic supplies

A 68-year-old woman from Delhi has been confirmed as the second Indian to die from the coronavirus.

The woman, who had underlying health conditions, is thought to have been infected by her son who travelled to Switzerland and Italy last month.

India’s first fatality from the virus was confirmed on Thursday.

The 76-year-old man, from the southern state of Karnataka, died after returning from a month-long visit to Saudi Arabia on 29 February.

People who came in contact with the man are being traced and quarantined, the state’s health minister said. India has 82 confirmed cases of the virus, the health ministry says.

The Delhi woman’s son was “initially asymptomatic but developed a fever and cough after one day”, a government statement said. The family were then screened and the mother and son admitted to hospital.

The 76-year-old Karnataka man was screened at the airport on his return but showed no symptoms at the time. After he developed difficulties last week, he was taken to hospital. He died on Tuesday but it was not reported until Thursday.

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India’s Supreme Court has said it will only hear urgent cases from Monday, and has restricted the number of people who can enter a courtroom.

Karnataka has banned all gatherings including weddings, sports events and conferences for a week as the country attempts to slow the spread of the virus.

Malls, movie theatres, pubs and night clubs have also been shut.

“The government will decide on further action after a week following a review,” the state’s chief minister BS Yediyurappa announced on Friday.

But he said that government offices would continue to function as normal.

India has taken a number of steps to halt the spread of Covid-19:

  • All visas, barring a select few categories, have been suspended for a month
  • Visa-free travel afforded to overseas citizens of the country has been suspended until 15 April and even those allowed in could be subject to 14 days of quarantine
  • Schools, colleges and movie theatres in the capital, Delhi, have been shut until 31 March
  • The Indian Premier League (IPL), featuring nearly 60 foreign players and scheduled to begin on 29 March, has been postponed to 15 April
  • Two one-day cricket matches between India and South Africa will be played behind closed doors

India’s health ministry says it was among the first countries in the world to prepare for an outbreak of the respiratory illness, and denied allegations that it was slow in testing suspected cases.

“Our surveillance system is strong and we are able to quickly identify any symptomatic patients,” RR Gangakhedkar from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) told reporters on Thursday.

However, there are concerns about whether the country will be fully equipped to prevent and treat an outbreak.

It would be near impossible for India to force its citizens into mass quarantine and hospitalise people in numbers like China, says the BBC’s Soutik Biswas.

Our correspondent says there are also concerns about the country’s poor healthcare data. India has a shoddy record in even recording deaths and disease – only 77% of deaths are registered, and doctors are more likely to get the cause of death wrong than right, according to a study the Toronto-based Centre for Global Research. There is patchy data for flu-related deaths.

Source: The BBC

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29/04/2019

Canadian soybeans, peas and pork face new delays at China’s ports

  • Are increasing diplomatic tensions behind tighter inspections and cancelled orders?
  • Farmers switch to other crops in bid to beat barriers
Canadian exporters of pork, soybeans and peas say they are facing delays and increased inspections at Chinese ports. Photo: Reuters
Canadian exporters of pork, soybeans and peas say they are facing delays and increased inspections at Chinese ports. Photo: Reuters
A growing list of Canadian farm exports is facing obstacles at Chinese ports, raising concerns that a bitter diplomatic dispute between the two countries may be to blame.
Sellers of Canadian soybeans and peas say they are experiencing unusual obstacles and Ottawa also warned last week that China was holding up pork shipments over paperwork issues.
China has already blocked Canadian canola from Richardson International and Viterra, two of Canada’s biggest farm exporters, saying that shipments had pests. Other China-bound canola cargoes have been cancelled, forcing exporters to re-sell elsewhere at discount.

Canadian politicians have said the concerns are baseless, and noted that China detained two Canadians after Canada arrested an executive of Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in December at the United States’ request. China has used non-tariff barriers before during diplomatic tensions, most recently against Australian coal.

China has already blocked canola from two of Canada’s biggest farm exporters, while other China-bound canola cargoes have been cancelled. Photo: AP
China has already blocked canola from two of Canada’s biggest farm exporters, while other China-bound canola cargoes have been cancelled. Photo: AP

Increasing tensions with China, a top buyer for most Canadian farm commodities, have forced farmers to plant other crops, such as wheat, that they hope will not face barriers.

China bought US$2.01 billion worth of Canada’s canola and $381 million worth of its pork last year.

The spread of African swine fever through China’s pig herd has reduced China’s need for canola and soybeans to process into feed ingredients but, since January, port soybean inspections that routinely take a few days now require three weeks, causing Chinese buyers to avoid Canadian products, according to Dwight Gerling, president of Canadian exporter DG Global.

“They’re basically sending out the signal, ‘You buy from Canada, we’re going to make your life difficult,’” Gerling said.

Earlier this year, a Chinese buyer told Gerling that a government inspector had found ants in 34 containers (roughly 680 tonnes) of the Canadian soybeans he shipped there.

Such a finding would be rare, since the soybeans were stored in concrete silos in Canada and shipped in sealed containers in late autumn, said Gerling, who concluded the buyer was trying to avoid the new hassles of buying from Canada.

“It’s just them playing games. (Beijing) is just going to keep putting the screws to us,” he said.

China’s General Administration of Customs did not reply to a request for comment. Government officials have said their canola ban is a regular inspection and quarantine measure to protect China’s farm production and ecological safety.

In a statement, the Canadian agriculture department said it could not confirm that China had imposed stricter measures against farm goods other than canola. Ottawa said this month it hoped to send a delegation to China to discuss the issue.

Gerling’s company has halted soybean sales to China and found other buyers in Southeast Asia.

An official at a state-owned crusher in southern China confirmed that port inspections had tightened on Canadian soybean cargoes.

“We don’t have Canadian cargoes coming in as we can’t blatantly commit such wrongdoing when the atmosphere is so intense,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Soybeans from Canada are facing delays when they reach Chinese ports, according to traders. Photo: Reuters
Soybeans from Canada are facing delays when they reach Chinese ports, according to traders. Photo: Reuters

Another official in northern China said his crushing plant scrapped plans to buy Canadian soybeans when the trade dispute flared.

Canada shipped $1.2 billion worth of soybeans to China in 2018, up sharply year over year, according to the Soy Canada industry group, as China and the United States fought a trade war. But sales have now slowed to a trickle.

Canola has taken the brunt of China’s measures.

Chinese buyers have cancelled at least 10 cargoes of Canadian canola in the past few weeks, according to a Singapore-based trader at a company that runs crushing facilities in China. Some cargoes, around 60,000 tonnes each, have been resold to buyers in Pakistan and Bangladesh at deep discounts, the trader said.

“It is devastating for exporters,” the trader said.

Canada gets tough with China on canola ban, demands contamination proof

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) canola futures fell to a more than four-year low on Tuesday as supplies piled up. Growers intend to sow the smallest crop in three years.

On Monday last week, Ottawa said some Canadian pork exporters used an outdated form to certify shipments to China, causing delays. Such issues arise regularly in commodity trading, but rarely with damaging consequences, said Canadian Pork Council spokesman Gary Stordy.

Canadian pea exporters fear they could be next. China imported C$533 million worth of Canadian peas in 2018, according to industry group Pulse Canada, but the pace has slowed.

Chinese authorities have begun scrutinising import documents and product samples more closely, according to Taimy Cruz, director of logistics at Toronto-based BroadGrain Commodities.

China Inspection and Quarantine Authorities now tests samples of each pea shipment before authorising it for import. They also restrict in some cases the number of soybean shipments allowed under one licence, slowing the flow, she said.

Similarly, import authorities now require soybean shipments that change vessels in Singapore and Shanghai – a routine practice called trans-shipping – to reach their destination on a single ship, she said.

While BroadGrain has not seen its cargoes turned back, it has reduced sales to China to avoid risk, concentrating on the Indian subcontinent and South America, she said.

“We have to be extra careful,” Cruz said. “They are very strict now.”

Source: SCMP

Posted in African swine fever, agriculture department, Bangladesh, Beijing, BroadGrain Commodities, canada, Canadian canola, Canadian exporter, Canadian Pork Council, Canadian soybeans, Canadian soybeans, peas and pork, cancelled orders, China alert, China’s ports, DG Global, diplomatic tensions, director of logistics, Dwight Gerling, face new delays, Gary Stordy, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Inspection and Quarantine Authorities, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) canola futures, Ottawa, Pakistan, paperwork issues, pork shipments, Richardson International, Shanghai, Singapore, Southeast Asian, Soy Canada industry group, spokesman, Taimy Cruz, tighter inspections, Toronto-based, trans-shipping, Uncategorized, United States’ request, Viterra | Leave a Comment »

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